A Sensational Summer Space

Scott and Lynn Lictus of Lower Heidelberg Township absolutely adore their Colorado home and spend as much time there as they can.

In every season, especially in the summer, the Lictuses savor the vacation-like feel that always settles over them at the house. While friends and co-workers journey to the shore or other popular getaway destinations, the Lictuses have only one goal: time at their Colorado house.

They’ve got everything inside and out – a spacious 2,900-foot, four-bedroom, two-story house surrounded by lush landscaping and their own very favorite amenity, a heated pool.

While others need to take road trips or board planes or trains, the Lictuses’ vacation getaway is actually on Colorado Avenue in Green Valley Estates. They’ve called the place home for 20 years and are the first and only owners of the Grande-built residence.

Independence from the Rush

This Independence Day holiday, while others are fighting traffic, you’ll find the Lictuses, likely along with family and friends, enjoying each other’s company – and the pool, of course.

“We try not to travel too much in the summer,” says Lynn. “We always take the week of July Fourth off and stay right here. This is our vacation home; this is our weekend house right here. It’s usually bedlam here on summer Saturday and Sunday afternoons,” she adds with a smile.

Lynn, who hails from the New York City metro area, and Scott, from upstate New York, relocated two decades ago for Scott’s job with the then-CNA Insurance offices in downtown Reading.

As they house hunted in Berks with the aid of realtor Mitch Darcourt, they checked out what was then a growing section of the Green Valley Estates development.

They settled on the farmhouse-inspired “Delaware” style property on Colorado, in part because the lot was big enough for a pool.

Lynn was also hooked by the front porch area and the two walk-in closets in the master bedroom.

“We were the last house on the street for a long time,” Scott recalls.

New Home Lessons

The couple says they learned a lot about the construction process. There were, says Lynn, decisions to be made about interior upgrades from flooring to tile to countertops to appliances. And, after those big decisions, there were smaller ones to make such as window treatments and even towel racks and window screens.

“It was amazing how much stuff doesn’t come with a new house,” says Scott.

The basic package also did not include landscaping, save the hydro seeding of the lawn area. Every bush, flower, groundcover and tree needed to be planted by the Lictuses.

So, with the help of their former pastor who also had a landscaping business, the couple got to work on their first stab at landscaping.

Three years later, with some additional funds accumulated, they decided to install, the heated pool.

A Shade of Gray

Not for them was the traditional bright turquoise plaster coating. The couple opted for a shade of grey for Lynn’s beloved “cement pond.”

The color better blended with the decking, the concrete border and the landscaping. On occasion, it has even fooled some local mallards who plop in for a swim in the surprising (to them!) chlorinated water.

The couple says the pool is generally “open” May through September, but there are some exceptions to that rule.

Prior to the summer-like day in late April when the interview for this Berks County Living article occurred, the couple had taken their first 2017 dips. In the recent warm early autumns, the pool has been used as late as the mid-October Columbus Day holiday weekend.

That extended usage, to some degree, can be attributed to the color. “The darker plaster absorbs the sunlight and keeps it warmer,” Lynn notes.

The natural blotching of the gray plaster, the result of passing years, adds to the pool’s unique ambiance.

But what was good for the pool coating was not good for the pool surrounds.

Cementing Change

According to Tom Connelly, owner of Sinking Spring-based Connelly Lawn and Garden, the immediate area of the pool, its border, and the nearby decking and landscaping were in need of replacement.

Chris Savage, who is on staff at Connelly and is a landscape designer, concurred with his boss’ assessment.

“The old concrete decking was cracked and was settling and had pulled away from the pool liner,” he says. In addition, a nearby retaining wall containing fill that eliminated a slope when the pool was constructed in 2000 was starting to bow.

After a lengthy conversation with the Lictuses as to their needs and their wishes for improvements, necessary and aesthetic, Savage, who has more than 20 years of experience in hardscape design and installation, got to work.

And using the newest 3-D technology, Savage returned with his computer-generated creation.

“This virtual tour allows the client to walk around (in this case the backyard and pool area) and view it from all angles, including an angle of how the new design appears when you are looking out the windows of the house,” he says.

Phase Three

What Savage created was what was to become the third phase of the Lictuses’ landscaping journey at the Colorado house.

By using pavers in various shades of grays and browns to complement existing pavers and designs in a raised seating area to the far side of the pool near the garden shed and by the front door, Savage was able to give a unified sense of design all the while reinvigorating the pool and its surrounds.

He recommends pavers for their durability and flexibility in design and color options. Though made of extremely densely packed cement, the individual pavers do not fall victim to the issues of cracking and settling that plague poured cement surfaces, especially in this climate.

“Our area has more freezing and thawing cycles than most of the rest of the country,” says Savage.

The Lictuses’ new hardscaping project began in the late summer of 2016. Savage says creating and finalizing the design to the couple’s tastes took about a week and a half. After the pool was “closed” for the season in late September, Savage and the Connelly crew got to work.

“It took us about 2.5 weeks to complete,” Savage says. That included ripping up the old cement decking, repairing the retaining wall, and having a subcontractor install a new fence (Robesonia-based AKA The Fence Company Inc.).

Understanding Needs

Tom Connelly stresses the importance of getting to know clients and their lifestyles as part of the design process.

“We solicit information from our clients – are there young children in the house or are there older adults whose visitors are primarily family, friends and work colleagues?” he says, noting other factors include “what’s usable landscape and what’s the use of the landscape? Because of that, we like to think we get it right 80 to 85 percent the first time around.”

Clearly, Connelly’s philosophy has paid off. From his start as a one-man-and-a-truck landscaping endeavor nearly three decades ago, he now has a staff of 20.

“I’ve been self-employed since 1990,” says Connelly, the father of three grown children. “The reward comes when the homeowners return and see the completed project, and they are blown away.”

That was pretty much the case with the Lictuses.

As their orange tabby Gracie sits watch on a nearby windowsill, the couple points out favorite parts of the final design.

The pavers curve in wavy symmetrical patterns a few feet from the home’s exterior right up to the pool border. The muted grays and brown tones pay homage to the prior landscaping endeavors as well as the gray shutters on the windows of the house and garden shed.

Wildlife – Flora and Fauna

Though still modest in size in late April, the perennials, trees and shrubs surrounding the yard’s perimeter offer pleasures for the senses. Among them are lavender, Russian sage, black-eyed Susans, cyprus cedar, heliotrope, butterfly bushes, paperbark maples and zebra grass. A complement of annuals makes the backyard a nature lover’s delight.

In addition to the ducks that occasionally stop by, there are other wild critters that can be found visiting now and then. During the BCL interview, a chipmunk watched from a safe distance as Gracie fidgeted on the windowsill.

The Lictuses say some of the critters, especially curious baby rabbits with no swimming skills, fall victim to the pool. Mice are another story. Small and agile enough, they can be found hitching a ride on the pool robot vacuum hose until it gets close enough to the pool edge.

The shadow-box fence, which provides privacy while permitting the breezes to filter through on a hot summer day, keeps the pool safe and off limits to uninvited human visitors. But still, neighbors and friends know that the Lictus abode is a welcoming and fun place.

The updated landscape has given the couple a fresh perspective. Scott, who now works as an analyst with Vanguard in Malvern, looks forward to his time poolside even more. The daily trek home for Lynn is a bit shorter, with her base in Wyomissing.

With the music of Radio Margaritaville playing lightly in the background, the mood for relaxing in the sun is always set.

Blending in Pragmatism

And while the couple revels in their home improvements, the updates have also been done with fiscal considerations.

“We figure we have about three or four more years here,” says Scott, “and then it’s on to Henderson, N.C., where we will retire. We wanted to do things to make the property more marketable, but we also wanted the time to enjoy our investment.”

They continue to replace some outdoor furnishings to add to the comfort level of the patio. And they scoff at folks who contend that an in-ground pool is too much work. The bulk of the workload is borne by that friendly robot vacuum.

“I spend my half-hour a week working on the pool,” says Scott. “I empty the filter bag, dip a stick to measure the chlorine level and adjust it if needed, and that’s about it.”

So this Independence Day, you’ll be unlikely to see either Scott or Lynn worrying about the workload.

And, as their omnipresent radio guest Jimmy Buffett might sing: “It’s just another day in paradise.”